I struggled through A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles despite its beloved status by many (Goodread Choice Nominee for Historical Fiction, Kirkus Nominee for Fiction), having to switch formats from print to audio version so that I could speed it up. It was just so slow! Many in book group really loved it,Continue reading “A Gentleman in Moscow”
Author Archives: bbwesquire
Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator
Another entry in the expanding Pride and Prejudice universe, Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator, (publication day July 8, 2025) by Kelly Gardiner and Sharmini Kumar, is a satisfying mystery centered on a minor character from Pride and Prejudice. As the book opens, Caroline Bingley is staying with her brother Charles and his new wife JaneContinue reading “Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator”
The Rebel Girls of Rome
It took me a little bit to get into The Rebel Girls of Rome (publication day July 8, 2025) by Jordyn Taylor, but once I did, I was hooked. Going back and forth in time in the present-day, from the perspective of Lilah who is visiting Rome with her grandfather Ralph (Raffaele), and in 1943,Continue reading “The Rebel Girls of Rome”
The Mighty Red
I really enjoyed listening to The Mighty Red (2024) by Louise Erdrich. I think I’ve read nearly every novel she’s written. so my expectations were high, and I was not disappointed. Centering on a teenage love triangle, with goth Kismet Poe marrying football player Gary Geist and fooling around with homeschooled genius Hugo, right afterContinue reading “The Mighty Red”
America is Not the Heart
I thought Elaine Castillo’s How to Read Now: Essays was so important that I needed to read her first novel, America is Not the Heart (2018). It was utterly absorbing and did what my favorite novels do–immersed me in a world that I could not otherwise experience as a white person. Castillo switches perspectives, specificallyContinue reading “America is Not the Heart”
These Heathens
I was a big fan of Mia McKenzie’s 2021 Skye Falling, so I was thrilled to come across her newest, These Heathens, (publication day June 15, 2025), on NetGalley! Told from the perspective of Doris, a seventeen-year old pregnant Black girl in 1960 rural Georgia who had to leave school at fifteen to take careContinue reading “These Heathens”
Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes
I listened to Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon and Kim Green, upon the recommendation of a friend, and it was well worth reading, despite the sometimes difficult subject matter. Nguon, born in 1962 in Cambodia to an ethnically Vietnamese mother and Khmer father, had a happyContinue reading “Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes”
Slow Horses
Slow Horses (Slough House #1) by Mick Herron (2010) was the book club pick for May. If you’re not familiar with the book or the Apple TV series, it follows a group of MI5 agents assigned to Slough House in London for what remains of their failed careers. They are nominally still part of theContinue reading “Slow Horses”
Ready to Score
Ready to Score by Jodie Slaughter (publication day June 3, 2025) immersed me in southern high school football like I never expected in a sapphic romance! Jade Dunn, math teacher and first black woman assistant football coach in their small South Carolina town, has the feeling that the head coach is going to retire, andContinue reading “Ready to Score”
Of Monsters and Mainframes
I was so completely charmed by Barbara Truelove’s Of Monsters and Mainframes (publication day June 3, 2025) that I just about read it in a single sitting! Space travel meets vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein, a mummy, and cthulhu-people! Primarily told from the perspective of two spaceship AIs, with interludes told from the perspectives of others whoContinue reading “Of Monsters and Mainframes”
Reading While Fat 